The Creative Epiphany – When Creativity Messes With You, Part 1

You know that feeling – you are drained of ideas, you are parched of imagination, desperate for inspiration – you are wondering if you will ever have another burst of brilliance in your lifetime. You try to force it, using your “last resort” tactics to entice the lovely vixen, CREATIVITY, back into your control. She is nowhere to be found – she took the last train for the coast. She always does this when you need her the most; she is fickle and she cheats on you with other guys. You are feeling powerless without her. You have been robbed of your favorite distinction – you feel so ordinary – so without your edge – so blank – so nowhere.

What to do, what to do… Music? Food? Shopping? Sex? Dancing? Running to nowhere? Mingling randomly with your fellow human beings? You wonder how long this vacancy will last. This exile from productivity. This emptiness.

“Creativity does have a down-side. After all, she is only human, isn’t she? She has ongoing relationship issues with Loneliness, Self-Doubt and Criticism. You have heard the expression, “There goes an egomaniac with an inferiority complex.” Bingo. She does not always play well with others. She has problems fitting in. In spite of her flamboyant, life-of-the-party behavior, she can be quite shy. She sometimes leads a solitary life, fleeting in and out of thought incessantly at odd hours of the day and night and then disappearing for months at a time, completely off the radar. Creativity finds it painful to be taken for granted and does not ever come when she is sternly summoned. Even being labeled “creative” is a heavy load to carry through life. People expect a lot of Creativity. And she tires easily. Sometimes she burns herself up in a colorful flame-out. Then there is Depression…circling around Creativity’s camp like a hyena waiting for pieces of flesh, steadfastly marking his territory. Creativity is sometimes deeply fearful. She is plagued with insecurity. She has foot-stomping anger management issues. She hates criticism and feels tricked when it is called “creative criticism.” She is easily offended. But after a dry spell she appears again, rested and giving, ready for some fresh endeavor because she says, smiling, that she was missing you. To make up for her absence and undependability, Creativity takes you on serendipitous journeys you had never dreamed of taking. She shows you the world in one blink of her exotic eye.”

When Creativity finally decides to return, riding on a grand epiphany, lucky be you.

The next blog entry will explain what to look for and how you can facilitate that experience.

In the meantime, go have some fun, put it out of your mind – and relax!